30-Minute Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
Onion, celery, carrots and thyme browned in butter, simmered in store-bought broth, then egg noodles cooked right in the pot, with the shredded meat of a supermarket rotisserie chicken and frozen peas stirred in at the end, in 30 minutes.
A rotisserie chicken from the supermarket is one of the most American shortcuts in the kitchen: already roasted, already seasoned, ready to pull apart. America's Test Kitchen built this Cook's Country soup around one in 2008, to fix the usual problems of quick chicken noodle soup (thin broth, bland chicken and mushy noodles) by buying the chicken already cooked and spending the time on the vegetables and noodles instead.
It is the weeknight cousin of the Classic American Chicken Noodle Soup in this hub: same vegetables, same egg noodles, with the broth from a carton and the bird from the deli counter.
Why it works the kitchen science
A cooked chicken
Buying the bird already roasted removes the slowest step, and roasted meat brings more flavor to a 20-minute soup than raw chicken poached in it would.
Noodles cooked in the soup
The egg noodles simmer in the broth so they absorb flavor, and the soup is served as soon as they are tender, before they can turn mushy.
Step by step
- Step 1
While the butter melts in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, pull the meat off the rotisserie chicken in bite-size shreds and discard the skin and bones.
- Step 2
Add the onion, celery, carrots, thyme and 1/2 tsp salt to the butter and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Step 3
Pour in the broth, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until the vegetables soften, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Step 4
Add the noodles and simmer uncovered until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Step 5
Stir in the chicken and peas and keep the soup at a low simmer about 2 minutes, until it reads 165°F. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
30-Minute Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 4 · about 10 cups · 30 min total
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 celery rib, sliced thin
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 2 tsp minced fresh thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 oz egg noodles (about 2 cups)
- 1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded (about 3 cups)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Pepper
Method
- While the butter melts in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, pull the meat off the rotisserie chicken in bite-size shreds and discard the skin and bones.
- Add the onion, celery, carrots, thyme and 1/2 tsp salt to the butter and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until the vegetables soften, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the noodles and simmer uncovered until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the chicken and peas and keep the soup at a low simmer about 2 minutes, until it reads 165°F. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Hearty Chicken, Vegetable, and Noodle Soup" (Cook's Country, February/March 2008; published online December 18, 2007), serves 4. We follow it as written: 3 tbsp butter; onion, celery, carrots, thyme and 1/2 tsp salt cooked about 5 minutes over medium-high heat; 8 cups low-sodium broth simmered covered 10 to 15 minutes; 4 oz egg noodles about 5 minutes; 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken and 1 cup frozen peas heated about 2 minutes off the heat. ATK stirs the chicken in off the heat; we keep the pot on a low simmer until the soup reads 165°F, since a store-bought chicken that has been refrigerated is a leftover (USDA FSIS). The step breakdown is ours. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (1)
Tips
- ATK recommends a light, fluffy style of egg noodle; any wide egg noodle works.
- Save the rotisserie carcass in the freezer for the broth in the Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls or Pho Ga.
- If the chicken is warm from the store, shred it right away; if it went home first, refrigerate it within 2 hours (USDA FSIS).
- Make extra base without noodles, freeze it, and add fresh noodles when you reheat.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Rotisserie chicken makes a soup "not homemade." Folklore: ATK chose it on purpose, for flavor as well as speed.
- Stir the chicken in off the heat. Disputed: ATK does, to keep it tender; we keep the soup at a low simmer until it reaches 165°F, the USDA FSIS number for leftovers.
- Butter, not oil. Folklore: ATK uses butter for flavor; oil works the same way.
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